Reynolds HotBox

Henry Stone and Nico Colombant join new Reynolds Hotbox podcast host Ian Cook to present the 2020 #NevadaVote initiative, and they discuss whether journalists should be advocates, whether voting will be "hazardous" and some lighter moments of reporting research mixed in with promos for our other social media which now include Snapchat and TikTok.

Todd Felts, an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication at the University of Nevada, Reno, has recently been researching the communication strategy of Turning Point USA, a controversial right-wing organization. He says one of the methods of this group, which has been actively recruiting on college campuses, is to create "pre-constructed anxiety" before events.

Their current leader Charlie Kirk came to UNR in October 2019. The group had another event planned in April 2020 but it didn’t happen due to UNR’s coronavirus closure.

In this episode with reporters Lucia Starbuck and Scott King, Todd Felts also discusses the continued importance of writing, his background in crisis communication, and the role of campuses in regards to free speech.

“I would argue that speech is freer, in some ways, on a college campus than it is in a town square because of the types of participants in the speech, because folks are sitting in rooms learning things, they're thinking about things, and they have things to say,” Felts said. Listen to this episode for more insights in general, and concerning Turning Point USA in particular.

Michelle Baker is a recent graduate from the Reynolds School of Journalism who has a passion for audio and podcasting. She recently attended Werk It: A Women’s Podcast Festival. The L.A. event had successful women in the audio industry talk about the importance of including women and other minorities in audio, trends and tips for getting started and how to make money in the podcasting realm.

Those quoted include Julia Turner @juliaturner, Deputy Managing Editor of the LA Times and Jenna Weiss-Berman @WBJenna, the Co-Founder of Pineapple Street Media.

Take a listen to this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox hosted by Lucia Starbuck to hear the audio postcard Baker made about her experience at the podcast festival and why audio is her favorite medium.

“I think that like from an interviewer's point of view, I think people are less self-conscious in front of a microphone rather than a camera," she said. "People are really able to be themselves and kind of, you know, after a few minutes they kind of just let loose and they're like, 'Oh, it's just me and you having a conversation.' I think that just because audio is so accessible and you can, you know, you don't have to sit down and like watch a documentary, you can just be driving in your car and hear this story.”

Baker is an audio producer and has done freelance editing, created a non-narrated story about an immigrant for NPR’s Next Generation Boot Camp and filmed a documentary about a community in Tijuana, Mexico.

Ben Deach is a reporter and weekend anchor for KOLO 8, a local Reno TV news station. Deach can be seen on TV chasing wildfires, covering parole of infamous people like O.J. Simpson or doing an ongoing series on historical sights.

In this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox podcast, host Lucia Starbuck and cohost Jordyn Griffin, a KOLO 8 Weekend Editor, talk to Deach about career highlights, what it’s like working for a TV news station and the low point in Deach’s life that lead him to TV news, and why he’s so glad he made the leap.

“I like how you become a more well-rounded person working in TV. I was so all-in on sports before. Now, you know, now I cover everything: from fires, to court cases, to stories about kids, whatever it is. This is stuff I never thought I'd see myself doing, but now that I've been doing it, I just feel like I know so much more about how the world works. So, I'd highly recommend that, as opposed to just being a one-track mind type person,” Deach said.

In addition to his anchor job, Deach has also successfully navigated the YouTube world as a poker vlogger. He has a little over 11,000 subscribers and his most viewed video has over 40,000 views. Take a listen to this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox podcast to hear Deach’s tips for YouTube and how to master talking in front of the camera.

Wenei Philimon transferred to the Reynolds School of Journalism in the Spring of 2019. Her mom was the one who suggested the idea, citing Philimon’s concern for people and her interest in their plight.

In this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox, host Lucia Starbuck and co-host Scott King talk to Philimon about her first two articles for the Reynolds Sandbox and her newfound career goal: investigative journalism.

“I've learned so much. I'd never want to be the type of journalist that only cares about the story,” Philimon said, “Having that like 'student activist' on me, it's interesting, because I feel like I'm going further in-depth and learning things more. At the end of the day, I just honestly want to make change and I feel like these articles gave me a platform to allow these people to, you know, basically gave me a platform to amplify their voices.”

Philimon’s first article “Students of Color Say They Feel Increasingly Unwelcome at UNR,” focused on racial tensions at the University of Nevada, Reno including minorities feeling unsafe on campus, negative results of the Campus Climate Survey, and racist actions by UNR police officers.

Philimon then went on to publish a revealing Q&A with UNR President Marc Johnson shortly after his announcement that he will be stepping down in 2020. Take a listen to this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox to hear about Philimon’s experiences writing these stories and what she’s learned as a student journalist tackling the most important issues.

Assistant Professor of Spanish Language Media Dr. Ezequiel Korin discusses his recent paper, Technological Bridging: Exploring the Use of Communications Technologies Amid the Diasporic Experience.

The paper published this year in the Qualitative Inquiry journal is an auto-ethnographical research paper which posits that the shift to digital communication technology is making interactions between people in the diaspora and their families back home more transient; leading to a certain loss of identity that was present when communication involved material items.

Korin grew up in Venezuela, after leaving Argentina at the age of one. He started out in engineering but soon became interested in communication as a human phenomenon, leading to his doctorate in Mass Communication and Media Studies at the University of Georgia.

Throughout this episode, hosted and produced by Reynolds School graduate student Temi Durojaiye, Korin discusses the intractable problem of fake news, explores his youth growing up in Latin America, and gives advice to recent graduates of journalism and others interested in pursuing a career in the field.

Thomas Sampson, an undergrad student at the Reynolds School of Journalism, and the host of the Back to the Films podcast, chats with Dr. Myrton Running Wolf, an assistant professor of Race and Media, about his recent paper titled: “Thank You, Adam Sandler & Co., for Giving Us a Native American Rosa Parks Moment!”

The paper is a response to the 2015 film The Ridiculous 6, which stars Adam Sandler, and according to Wikipedia, is just one of a few films to have received an approval rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Running Wolf’s paper highlights the discrimination experienced by Native American actors in Hollywood, and also acts as a call to action for films such as The Ridiculous 6 to no longer be made.

With supporting roles in Academy Award nominated films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The New World, along with directing, producing and writing his own work, Running Wolf provides a unique perspective as to what it means to be Native American in the film industry today.

Associate Dean and Professor at the Reynolds School of Journalism Donica Mensing discusses a chapter she wrote for the book Global Journalism Education. Her paper specifically looked at, why in the United States, newsrooms are dramatically shrinking while journalism schools continuing to grow. In this episode, Dr. Mensing shares her research findings, experience as an educator, and advice to anyone interested in exploring a journalism or media related career with co-host Kathleen Masterson, a radio journalist and professor of Science Communication . The producer and host of this episode is Reynolds School of Journalism graduate student Tianna Morimoto.

Do you use mobile apps on your cell phone to monitor your health? Dr. Laura Crosswell, an Assistant Professor of Health Communication, says that “though these apps can help facilitate the communication between a physician and/or medical facility, they also leave a gap.” This, because not all people have access to tech gadgets, computers, or smartphones. Dr. Crosswell recently published a paper in Perspectives in Public Health titled "The doctor in my pocket: examining mobile approaches to personal wellbeing." Dr. Todd Felts, an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication, and a co-host on this episode, agrees and says that “there is room for improvement in training doctors on how to communicate in a ‘mobile format’ in today’s modern world”. The host and producer for this episode is Issmar Ventura, a graduate student at the Reynolds School of Journalism.

Get a glimpse of what the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR looked like in 1980s, that’s when the since retired Bourne Morris, was the first woman professor at the school. In this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox, RSJ Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication Todd Felts talks to Bob Felten, Professor Emeritus, and Morris about the differences in their experiences of teaching advertising and public relations, and what they’re up to now.

“So, the faculty was probably half the size of what it is today. All male, many of them, in fact, most of them had had professional experience, but not in advertising. Also, they weren't very sure that they approved of a woman from advertising coming into their print journalism world. But sooner or later they got used to me and then later we hired people who taught television and public relations and we hired more women. We became what is now the modern and very exciting [Reynolds] School of Journalism,” Bourne said.

Bourne retired about 10 years ago and since then she’s been writing books. She discusses at length her newest book titled, A Woman of Two Minds, which includes media relationships, matricide, and issues regarding sexual assault. Felten, who only retired this year, discusses how students are more open now, and share their stories about sexual assault. Is this a direct result of the #MeToo movement? Listen to this episode of the Reynolds Hotbox produced by student journalist Lucia Starbuck to find out more.